National Videogame Archive launched

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The UK's first official National Videogame Archive is being launched in a bid to preserve the history of an industry now worth an estimated £22bn.

Formed by academics at Nottingham Trent University and working in partnership with the National Media Museum in Bradford, the archive will recognise the significant contributions made by video games to the diversity of popular culture across the world, from 1972's Pong, to the graphic-brilliant offerings of the 21st Century.

The archive will be housed at the National Media Museum and will be managed and researched in collaboration with Nottingham Trent University's Centre for Contemporary Play.

In addition to a treasure trove of consoles and cartridges, the archive will collect and gather a broad range of items from across the industry. This will include things such as advertising campaigns, magazine reviews and artwork.

Dr James Newman from Nottingham Trent University's Centre for Contemporary Play, said: "The National Videogame Archive is an important resource for preserving elements of our national cultural heritage. We don't just want to create a virtual museum full of code or screenshots that you could see online. The archive will really get to grips with what is a very creative, social and productive culture."

He added: "It will not only be a vital academic resource to support growing disciplines in videogame studies but will also be something that the general public can fully engage with."

The National Videogame Archive will be launched at this year's GameCity 3 festival in Nottingham, held on 30th October - 1st November.

The three day event is set to attract videogame enthusiasts, developers and publishers to a range of activities taking place across the city and at the main festival venue, Gatecrasher nightclub.